WATCH | Joburg CBD building fire ‘successfully extinguished’

Emergency services (EMS) teams are on site at a building fire in the Johannesburg city centre on Friday morning.

City of Joburg EMS firefighters were alerted at 3am to a blaze at the corner of Bree and Harrison streets, the department said.

“Initial assessments indicate the fire originated on the ground floor of a 16-storey building with residential and commercial sections but did not spread to other floors,” said Joburg EMS.

“Fire crews initiated swift suppression operations and the fire was successfully extinguished.”

EMS teams remain at the scene conducting damping down operations to prevent reignition.

A large transformer located on ground floor is suspected to be the cause. The exact cause will be confirmed after a full investigation once all emergency operations have been completed.

No injuries have been reported.

Earlier the Vision Tactical security company said its teams were assisting government firefighters. The building was evacuated.

“Major traffic disruptions are expected this morning as emergency services work to contain the incident. Motorists are urged to avoid the area, use alternative routes and allow responders full access.”

TimesLIVE